JJ Smuts’ 101 cancelled out Grant Thomson’s 98 as Warriors edged Titans with a ball to spare in the Momentum One Day Cup opener in Centurion.Needing 14 off 12 balls, Warriors lost Simon Harmer and Sisanda Magala in a space of four balls but Andrew Birch and Bashreeru-Deen Walters, who hit the winning runs, saw their side home. The chase of 328, though, was set up by Smuts, who was the dominant partner in a 133-run stand with No.3 Yaseen Vallie. Smuts struck 14 fours and two sixes before right-arm pacer Ethy Mbhalati had the opener caught behind in the 24th over.Titans struck back, triggering a slide, as Warriors went from 160 for 1 to 230 for 6. Simon Harmer, who had taken two wickets earlier in the day, and Birch then took charge of the chase, crashing 89 in only 7.5 overs. Birch smashed five fours and three sixes in his unbeaten 28-ball 55.Titans, however, had begun well after being inserted. Each of the top three had bright starts but none managed to convert it into a big score. However, Dean Elgar and Thomson gave the innings some ballast and then impetus with an 87-run partnership. Simon Harmer broke the stand in the 39th over when he had Elgar caught by Somila Seyibokwe for 57 but Quaasim Adams became the third half-centurion for his team. Titans plundered 70 runs off the last five overs but they eventually came up short.
West Ham United recorded a vital 1-0 home win over Wolverhampton Wanderers with both sides chasing European qualification for next season.
Tomas Soucek’s second-half strike proved the difference between the two sides as the Hammers climbed to fifth in the Premier League table whilst Wolves remain eighth.
Although the Czech Republic international will get plenty of praise for scoring the decisive goal, teammate Pablo Fornals had an excellent afternoon for the Hammers and looked as though he could be getting back to his best at the perfect time for West Ham.
The Spaniard started the campaign excellently, scoring four goals and assisting two in his first 11 league appearances of the season, but has just one goal in almost four months of Premier League action.
Although he didn’t score or assist against Bruno Lage’s side, the attacking midfielder was certainly influential.
According to SofaScore, Fornals was the Irons’ joint-best player alongside Kurt Zouma, picking up a rating of 8.2/10 whilst making 74 touches, one of the most in his side.
Moreover, the livewire enjoyed an 80% passing accuracy alongside making two key passes and successfully completing three of four attempted dribbles.
However, it was the wide man’s defensive contribution that was so impressive, with the 26-year-old making five tackles and two interceptions whilst winning 75% of his duels as West Ham kept their seventh clean sheet of the Premier League season.
It would’ve certainly been pleasing for Moyes to see a player with plenty of potential look back to his best after a tricky run in the side that has seen little goal contributions.
Since joining the East London outfit from La Liga side Villareal in 2019, Fornals has had a mixed spell in the English capital, making 111 appearances in all competitions whilst scoring 15 goals and assisting 14, a goal contribution every 3.83 matches.
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Now, Moyes will want to see more goals from the Spaniard, an area that’s clearly been lacking in the three seasons at The London Stadium.
The Hammers have a crucial handful of weeks coming up, with Sunday’s win over Wolves a great way to kick-start that run. Following an FA Cup fifth-round clash at Southampton on Wednesday night, the Irons take on Liverpool, Aston Villa and Tottenham in the Premier League as well as two legs against Sevilla in the Europa League round of 16, all before April.
Therefore, the Scotsman will be desperate for his offensive-minded players, such as Fornals, to contribute strong performances. Moreover, there is a particular emphasis on goal scoring with Michail Antonio the club’s only senior striker and as a result goals will have to come from other avenues if the Hammers are to be successful.
In other news: Sold for £23m, now worth 5x less: West Ham played a blinder with “heated” 32 y/o flop
Newcastle United are this morning said to be improving their bid for Lilleand France right back Mathieu Debuchy according The Mirror.
The Magpies last week put a £4 million bid on the table for Debuchy, who had an impressive campaign for his country at Euro 2012. As Lille categorically denied the offer, Alan Pardew is now set to up the bid to £6 million in an attempt to strengthen last seasons surprise package even further.
The team from St James Park have endured a frustrating summer transfer window so far, as they also frantically chase FC Twente striker Luuk De-Jong, tipped by many to be the next Robin Van Persie.
By adding the signings of De-Jong and Debuchy, the hope is that Alan Pardew’s men will send out a strong message of intent which will enable them to keep hold of Demba Ba, Yohan Cabaye and Cheick Tiote as well.
Lille boss Rudy Garcia claims; ‘He (Debuchy) is torn between staying with us to play in the Champions League in our new stadium or going elsewhere.’
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Should Lille accept the latest bid from Newcastle for the 26 year old right back, he may find himself with a tough decision to make.
Newly promoted Queens Park Rangers may be on the verge of a change of ownership.QPR, who won the Championship last season to win promotion to the English Premier League, released a statement on their official website on Thursday announcing that the club was in talks with a potential new buyer.
Current owners Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore have received much criticism from the club’s support during the off-season, with the pair seemingly reluctant to spend on the squad.
The only new arrivals at Loftus Road have been striker Jay Bothroyd and midfielder Kieron Dyer, who were both free transfers.
Ecclestone and Briatore also markedly raised the club’s ticket prices in a move which further angered the fans.
But that might all be about to change, with the Italian duo entering into negotiations over the club’s future.
The statement confirmed that the potential buyer was not the same one that had showed interest in March.
“The Company has entered into preliminary discussions with a different party,” the statement said.
“Accordingly the Company confirms that is it no longer in an offer period. We will be making no further comment at stage.”
Chelsea blew the opportunity to close the gap at the top of the Premier League as a last gasp Ciaran Clark goal gave Villa a share of the spoils. The result has left Ancelotti claiming that the Manchester United game is now make or break for the Blues, in their hope of retaining the title.
In the papers this morning there has been a mixed bag of stories which includes Fergie reveals the outrageous demands of agents; Spurs demand £29m for trio, while FIFA launch force to fight corruption.
Ancelotti: we have to win United clash – Daily Telegraph
Redknapp waiting on Beckham – Sky Sports
McLeish: Hleb must fit the bill – Sun
Spurs demanding a whopping £29m for want-away trio – Mirror
Coe backs West Ham’s stadium plan – Guardian
Bit late, Blatter! FIFA launch force to fight corruption after World Cup farce – Daily Mail
FA looks to BOA to salvage Fifa trust – Daily Telegraph
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Michel Platini has sensationally stated that players at Euro 2012 may be booked for reacting or protesting to racist abuse.
With the tournament set to kick off on Friday in Ukraine and Poland, there are fears that the eastern European countries may not be the ideal venue for the competition and that racist incidents may occur from a section of supporters.
A number of England’s coloured players’ families have decided not to travel to support the team due to the fear, and Mario Balotelli has stated that he would walk off the pitch if he is subject to abuse.
Despite this, the Uefa president has stated that players risk discipline should they ark up over potentially controversial incidents.
“It’s a yellow card,” Platini is quoted as saying by The Guardian.
“We’d certainly support the referee if he decided to stop the game. It’s not a player, Mr Balotelli, who’s in charge of refereeing. It’s the referee who takes these decisions.
So, the referee has been given advice and he can stop the game if there are problems. We will stop the game if there are problems because I think racism is the worst of this,” he concluded.
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Manchester United and Everton recorded contrasting results as their pre-season tours of the US continued on Wednesday.United were rampant in their 7-0 defeat of MLS outfit Seattle Sounders at CenturyLink field, with substitute Wayne Rooney the hero after netting a second-half hat-trick.
Michael Owen scored the only goal of the first half with a header, but United’s superiority showed as the match wore on with Rooney’s three goals complemented by strikes from Ji-Sung Park, Mame Biram Diouf and Gabriel Obertan.
The result followed United’s 4-1 rout of another MLS outfit, New England Revolution, a week earlier.
United’s English Premier League contemporaries Everton began their US tour with a loss after going down 1-0 against the Philadelphia Union.
David Moyes’ side were on top for a majority of the 90 minutes but could not break the deadlock, and were made to pay when Union teenager Christian Hernandez stole a winner in the 87th minute.
Elsewhere, Stoke City thrashed Newcastle Town 6-0, Queens Park Rangers beat Plymouth Argyle 1-0 thanks to a late goal from Heidar Helguson, while Sunderland was beaten 3-1 by Bundesliga outfit Hannover.
From the Championship, Fred Sears scored as West Ham beat FC Copenhagen 1-0, Leicester drew 0-0 with Turkish side Bursaspor and Cardiff City were beaten 1-0 at home by Scottish powerhouse Celtic.
Jardel scored with two minutes remaining as Portuguese outfit Benfica snatched a last minute 1-0 victory against Ligue 1 side Toulouse, while Serie A sides Inter Milan, Lazio and Udinese all recorded victories.
Most Tottenham fans may despise Damien Comolli but his record for bringing in young talented players who go on to form the backbone of a squad is unquestionable. Tottenham’s success in the last 18 months has been largely down to the work that Damien Comolli put in at White Hart Lane from 2005–2008. Granted, some of his signings were poor, but who has a one hundred per cent record in the transfer window? The big difference since the appointment of Harry Redknapp has been that Tottenham now have a manager who is capable of getting the best out of the talent Comolli brought into the club rather than waste it like his predecessors.
You just have to look at who has shone for Tottenham both domestically and in Europe to see the true influence of Damien Comolli. Comolli has an eye for unearthing young quality players that retain their sell-on value. For example, who would have thought that Tottenham would have been able to get £30m out of Manchester United for Dimitar Berbatov when they signed him in 2006? Added to this, Younus Kaboul, Luka Modric, Gareth Bale, Benoit Assou Ekotto and Roman Pavlyuchenko were all signed by Comolli. These players are the backbone of Tottenham’s success and that can’t be overlooked. Comolli never sat back and just scouted players. He took a hands-on role in making the deals happen. Some would say he overstepped the mark, but he made the deals happen and now Tottenham are in great shape going into the future.
Liverpool fans should be very happy NESV have brought in Damien Comolli, a man with one of the best CVs in world football. He has great eye for spotting young talent, something that NESV have stated will be the new strategy for Liverpool. Comolli will offer Liverpool a wide scouting system, as well as a proven track record. It is up to the manager to make the players gel. Roy Hodgson has worked under directors of football before, so he should not feel undermined by Comolli at Liverpool.
Damien Comolli has been given a largely unfair reputation as a trouble maker. His role in the sacking of Martin Jol wasn’t pleasant and there is very little else that can be said for him in that regard. However, English football will never embrace role of the director of football because naturally we are defensive people. As a nation we look upon this as somebody trying to undermine the manager’s position, and this is exactly how the director of football is perceived. Managers nowadays can’t do it all on their own, they need help, and why not get help from an expert who has a proven track record? Had it not been for Damien Comolli, Tottenham would not have the depth of talent they do now. The success of the squad is down to Harry Redknapp but look what he was given to work with. Liverpool should be very happy. They can now tap into the Comolli system and can look forward to better days because of it.
If we look at the Tottenham squad today – the influence of Damien Comolli is there for all too see. Tottenham have gone up a level because they recruited a top manager in Harry Redknapp, but he was given the young stars to work with. As well as this, Comolli was instrumental in bringing the players into the club, not just finding the talent but making sure deals materialised. Liverpool is a long term project, and so is Damien Comolli’s. He may not be everybody’s cup of tea, but he is very successful in his role.
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Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool all to win at 15/8!
The transfer window may have opened today, but its managerial moves that are making all of the headlines at present, with bigger clubs poaching improving managers from the smaller Premier League sides.
Norwich City manager Paul Lambert looks set for a move to Aston Villa after he offered his resignation to the Canaries board on Thursday. Delia Smith and co. may have rejected Lambert’s offer, but he is now in discussions over a move to the midlands to replace the unpopular Alex McLeish at Villa Park.
From day one the McLeish reign was doomed to failure after his move from rivals Birmingham City and the fans’ clear disliking of the man, paired with underperforming players and unconvincing new signings.
However, I feel that Aston Villa have the squad and infrastructure to become a consistent top half Premier League side and possibly challenge the likes of Everton, Newcastle, Fulham and Stoke for a top eight position on a regular basis, perhaps returning to the Martin O’Neill days of European football in the next few years.
No other club in the country has a group of players aged 18-23 who are seemingly ready for first team football; with the likes of Marc Albrighton, Ciaran Clark and Barry Bannan already first team regulars, soon to be followed by the promising Gary Gardner, Chris Herd, Andreas Weimann, Samir Carruthers and others.
Villa have also taken part in the hugely successful NexGen Series that is a sort of Champions League style competition for under-18 sides, where they beat runners up Ajax on their way to winning their group and impressing the top clubs in Europe. The before mentioned youngsters along with the likes of rejects such as Emile Heskey had a huge role to play in winning their reserve league too, a league that included both Arsenal and Chelsea.
Injuries to the likes of Darren Bent and horrific news for Stililyan Petrov added to the woes of the club last season, narrowly avoiding relegation after a terrible slump in form in the final few months of the campaign. Big money signings such as Charles N’Zogbia offered very little to squad as a replacement of Stewart Downing and money could be available for Lambert after the big money sales of Downing, Ashley Young and James Milner in recent times.
The core defence is in place with the hugely experienced Richard Dunne, James Collins and Shay Given the main backbone with progressive full backs Alan Hutton and Stephen Warnock in place. One time Leeds United prodigy Fabien Delph seems to be over his worst injury problems and the likes of Stephen Ireland and Gabriel Agbonlahor are decent enough Premier League players that can cause opposition problems. Add the set of impressive youngsters to the current squad and ask Mr Lerner to fork out on two or three marquee signings; with the likes of Grant Holt possibly following his current manager from East Anglia; and I see no reason why Villa wont only improve on last season but also challenge the top eight and have a decent cup run.
Without disrespecting Norwich, you have to feel that Lambert has taken them as far he can, similarly to Brendan Rodgers at Swansea, and so the prospect of joining a big club, with a good squad that have very little expectations after a woeful season would excite me and I’m sure the man who was managing Colchester United just three years ago will be a huge success at Villa Park. Don’t be surprised to see Aston Villa massively improving next season and battling in the top half of the Premier League.
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What do you think? Let me know on Twitter: @Brad_Pinard
As we enter the halfway point between the end of one football season and the start of another, teams from the Premier League to the Football League are readying themselves to start pre-season training. Spare a thought for Fulham, who are already playing their first competitive match in the Europa League on Thursday, but for the rest the hardest part of the season is just about to start. This is when the real hard work has to be put in and players have to get into shape for the new season ahead of them.
So, players are preparing for the new season ahead by getting fit, managers are preparing by finalising their transfer plans and looking at tactics and formations, and fans are looking at the fixture lists to see when the real crunch matches are. Players and managers, the latter in particular, will have their own routines that they’ll go through, and any time wasted will only come back to haunt them later in the season.
One team that needs more preparation than most is Ivory FC of the First Division of the Brentwood Sunday League in Essex. For the team at the centre of Nivea for Men’s Great Football Experiment, preparation isn’t something that they’ve done a lot of in the past; over-indulgence is more of their thing. However, the coaches are trying their best to turn them from no-hopers into world beaters. The transformation isn’t quite that dramatic for most professional clubs up and down the country, but there’s hardly any resemblance between a team at the start of pre-season with them at the end of the summer.
By the beginning of August, the players will be sick and tired of sprint drills and cross-country jogs, but it’s all for their own good in the long run. After all, nothing can be achieved without the correct preparation, and Premier League stalwarts Aston Villa still have their traditional motto ‘prepared’ in their crest on their shirt, something I’m sure new manager Alex McLeish will be emphasising to them as he tries to make his mark at Villa Park. The Scot might not want to take note of how the boys at Ivory FC prepare…
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Preparation really is everything at this time of year. For some players who have struggled with injury in recent times they will be chomping at the bit to start playing again, but most footballers will be thinking that their holiday only just started before it came to an end. But there are no cutting corners in pre-season, as Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, once said “by failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail” and that statement couldn’t be more apt in the world of football.